Jeremiah 10:16 - Exposition

The portion of Jacob ; i . e . Jehovah. The phrase appears to have been coined at a lower level of religion, when every nation was supposed to have its own patron deity; just as the prophet says, ironically, to the fetish-worshippers of Israel, "Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion" ( Isaiah 57:5 ), and Moses, in Deuteronomy ( Deuteronomy 4:19 ), speaks of the host of heaven as having been "divided [ i . e . assigned] unto all nations under the whole heaven." But, of course, the phrase is susceptible of a high, spiritual application (comp. Psalms 16:5 ; Psalms 142:5 ). God's people are, by their very conception, an ἐκλογὴ , chosen out by God, and choosing him, and not the world, for their portion. "Making the best of both worlds" is an object implicitly condemned by this consecrated phrase. The former of all things . How much more forcible is the original phrase: " … of the whole," i . e . the universe! "To form" is a phrase constantly used of God in the second part of Isaiah. The rod of his inheritance . "Rod" should rather be tribe . The twelve tribes had an inner unity, as contrasted with other peoples; comp. Psalms 74:2 and Isaiah 63:17 ("tribes").